User:Acroterion/Cepet

The 20th century coastal fortifications of Toulon were the artillery batteries built on the seaward approaches to the French naval arsenal at Toulon, the main French naval base on the Mediterranean Sea. During the 19th century the area had been heavily fortified with forts and artillery emplacements that were made obsolete by rifled guns and explosive artillery sheels. There were modified or replaced with modern gun emplacements during World War I and the years prior to World War II. Some of these were expanded or adapted following the German invasion of France to defend German-held French territory against naval attack and amphibious landings.

Cap Cépet batteries
The main coastal defenses on Cap Cépet were the two turreted emplacements of Batterie Cépet under the 1920 defense program. The original program envisioned five turrets mounting 340mm naval guns made for cancelled Normandie-class battleships. Budgetary issues limited the installation to two turrets at Cap Cépet, although two more were installed in Tunisia at the Batterie d'El-Meline to defend Bizerte. Work began in 1928 and the first test firings took place in 1931. The installation was declared operational in September 1933. The Cépet batteries were designated Ouvrage C to the west and Ouvrage F to the east, with a command post and fire direction post designated Ouvrages D and E, respectively.